Brothers Forever
by LifeisShort.1
Summary: James regrets getting mad at Sirius. He knew what Sirius had done was mad and stupid and Sirius-like. But Sirius is his brother. So, when Sirius shows up at James' house at 11 in the night, saying that he left his house, James of course takes him in and forgives him. But the question to which he needs an answer is - Why did Sirius leave his house?


**Disclaimer – I don't own Harry Potter. It belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

_**Brothers Forever…**_

It was 11 o' clock in the night. James Potter lay on his bed, flipping through the book, 'Quidditch through the Ages'. His mother and father had already gone to bed. James was a 16 year old wizard, who attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Soon to be starting his 6th year at Hogwarts, James was a smart and well-known troublemaker. He was obsessed with Lily Evans, a red-head witch in his own year who had a fierce temper. James had 3 close friends-Remus Lupin (a werewolf), Peter Pettigrew and Sirius Black. Just the previous year, Sirius had, as a laugh told Severus Snape how to get past the Whomping Willow. Sirius never thought that Snape would actually listen to him but Snape had followed the instructions by Sirius and had found himself looking at a werewolf. Had it not been for James, Snape would have been dead. Now, James felt that Sirius had betrayed them.

James looked at the clock beside his bed. He knew he ought to sleep but he couldn't. James had been angry at Sirius, but now that he looked back at the incident he saw how sorry Sirius had looked. He remembered that Sirius never even asked to be forgiven because he knew what he had done was unforgivable. James was angry, but Sirius was his best mate. James felt empty without Sirius. He tried to imagine what Sirius was feeling at his home. 'He must be in his room, refusing meals and mainly staying locked up.' James sat up in his bed.

"Lizzie!" he called out to his owl. Lizzie, a beautiful white owl was sleeping in her cage. She refused to wake up. "Liz, I know you can hear me. I want you to send a letter for me, please!" Lizzie opened her eyes and looked at James as if saying, '_This late? Are you out of your mind?" _

"I know you are tired and sleepy but please, Liz! It's important!" Lizzie hooted. She understood the desperation in James's voice. James opened her cage and she flew out. James took out a parchment and scribbled quickly on it,

_Moony,_

_How are you? It's been so long! I miss you guys! I miss the fun we had at Hogwarts. How is everything at home? Are Mr. and Mrs. L alright? Have you heard from Peter?_

_Okay, now I'm pretty sure you realized that I won't send a stupid 'How are you' letter at 11 in the night. It's actually about Sirius. I know you are mad at him. I am too. But, I think it's time we talk to him properly now. I'm pretty sure that he must be locked up in his room right now, refusing to talk to anybody. I'm also sure that he mustn't have eaten anything in the past few days. Remus, I know you must have already forgiven him. You were always the forgiving type. I found it hard to forgive him. But now that I look back, I think Padfoot deserves a second chance. Without him, I feel empty. I feel like I don't have a life. Hope you reply soon. Give Liz a snack, will you? _

_James_

"There you go! Take it to Remus." James said while tying the letter on Lizzie's leg. She gave him an affectionate peck and flew off into the night. James watched her go until she disappeared completely. He sighed, hoping Remus will reply soon. Just as he was going back to bed, he noticed a figure in the sky. A human on a broom, flying straight for his house. James took out his wand from his jeans, ready to strike if he had to. As the figure came closer, James tensed. He thought of waking up his parents. But then he realized it was Sirius. James tucked his wand back inside his pocket and scrambled backwards as Sirius flew in. He didn't even land properly. He let the broom slide on the floor, knocking down several things. Sirius jumped up from the floor. James looked at Sirius then at his things. Sirius had brought everything, his trunk, broom and even a few extra bags. Sirius, himself had become thinner and paler. His eyes usually filled with excitement and mischief now looked sad and empty. James felt that they had gone too hard on him. James ran over to hug him. Sirius hugged him back tightly.

"What are you doing here?" James asked as he released Sirius.  
"I ran away from home." Sirius said shakily. James had no idea how Sirius had managed to fly such a long way.

"What?! Why?"  
"Guess I couldn't take my family anymore."  
"Do you expect me to believe _that_?"  
"No. But it was worth a try."  
"What happened?"  
"It's a long story."

James nodded. He realized that Sirius didn't want to talk about it right now.

"So. How are you?" he asked.  
"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.  
"I'm sorry, Pads. Guess we went too hard on you."

"It's not your mistake, Prongs. If anyone's it's mine. I ruined everything! No wonder you were mad at me. I didn't even ask for forgiveness because I knew what I had done was unforgivable. I swear Prongs, it was a laugh! I hadn't expected him to actually listen to me! I thought he'd ignore me as usual. I never meant to hurt you guys, especially Remus! Your friendship means the world to me! Without you three, I don't know what life is! I realized it in the past few days. The last few weeks have been the most difficult ones for me. I would do anything to win back your trust, Prongs! You're my actual family!" Sirius said desperately. His voice was shaky. James didn't know whether it was because of his journey or because he was about to cry.

"Padfoot, you already have my trust. The moment we separated at King's Cross I knew how you felt. I didn't feel complete without you. You are like my brother. Hell, you _are_ my brother! And the last few weeks have been tough for me too! And one more thing, mate! Don't ever go into that emotional and serious mode again. It doesn't suit you!" James said. They both laughed. Sirius hugged James again, not letting go for a long time. James felt familiar warmth spread through him.

James released Sirius. He saw that his friend's eyes were glistening.

"Are you crying?" James asked him with a smirk.  
"No, my eyes are sweating, I think!" Sirius said. They laughed again.  
"Do you want me to tell Mom and Dad?"  
"In the morning. Not now."  
James nodded. "You should get some sleep." James said. Sirius nodded and made his way towards the door.  
"Where the hell do you think you are going?" James demanded.  
"The guestroom?" Sirius said.  
"Hell, no! You are sleeping right here. I'll go sleep in the guestroom." James said. Sirius opened his mouth to speak but James cut him off, "Don't! Now sleep! You need it." Sirius laughed at his friend's sternness. Sirius scrambled on to the bed and looked at James.

"Happy?" he asked.  
"Very! Goodnight Pads! Sleep tight!" James said before he exited the room, closing the door behind him. James was puzzled. Sirius appeared so disappointed. Sirius hadn't said anything but James saw it in his eyes. Something had happened at his house that had caused Sirius to run away from home, to break all ties with the Black family and James was determined to find the reason.

The next morning, James woke up at 5:30 am. He looked around and realized that he was not in his room. He tried to remember the previous night's events and the memories suddenly came to him. James scrambled out of the bed. He grabbed a shirt and put it on while leaving the guestroom. James rushed to his room, hoping to find Sirius still sleeping even though he knew Sirius was probably not. James was right, of course. The bed in his room was empty. James panicked. He ran downstairs hoping to see Sirius sitting at the table or in front of the fire. Sirius was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, James realized that Sirius's favourite place was the beautiful hilltop in front of his house. He ran to the door and swung it open. Without closing the door, he ran to the hilltop as fast as his legs could take him. Once, he reached there he saw Sirius sitting, his legs spread out, his back to him and staring at the sky. James approached him slowly and sat down beside him.

"Hey." He said softly.  
"You're up early." Sirius said.  
"So are you. Couldn't sleep?"  
"No. I was thinking about home the whole night. You know, I always loved this hill. So, I came here at about 4:30. I may have even dozed off for 'bout half an hour."  
"Oh. So, why did you run away?" James knew he was treading on thin ice but he had to ask him at some time and right now seemed to be perfect for him.  
"You are not gonna let me go without knowing the reason, are you?"  
"It's okay if you don't want to tell me now."

"No. You deserve the truth. We were having dinner as usual yesterday night, when mother asked Regulus what he wanted to do in his life. I knew my brother shared the same pureblood mania but I just never believed that. I never believed that Reg was capable of harming anyone. I thought that maybe even if he didn't rebel against our parents he shared my views and thoughts secretly. Yesterday night he proved me wrong. He said – he said he wants to become a Death Eater. He wants to join Voldemort. I got angry or maybe I was disappointed. I asked Regulus if he was ready to kill people just because of their blood status. I asked him if he would like it if I killed him because I hated him. He said, 'I know you won't. Because you don't have it in you to kill anyone.' I knew it was the truth. And I shot back, 'That's what makes me a better person.' Mother interrupted us. She said she was proud of Regulus and she was happy that Reg didn't grow up to become a traitor like me. She said that I deserved to die for betraying my family. That's when I lost it. I knew that I had betrayed my family but I didn't care because my family is wrong. I grabbed my trunk and broom and walked out of the door without a backward glance. I flew all the way towards your house for 2 hours." Sirius finished his story. James nodded.

None of them said a word. They both sat on the hill, looking at the sky as the sun's rays lit up the area. James couldn't believe that Walburga Black hated her son so much that she felt Sirius deserved to die. Sirius, according to James was one of the best people he had ever met.

"Come on. Let's go home. Mr. and Mrs. P must be awake by now I think." Sirius said as he got up. He looked better now that he had poured his heart out. James nodded and got up. They both walked towards the house. Mrs. Potter at once came and hugged James and Sirius.

"What the devil were you thinking? You went off without telling me. And why didn't you tell me Sirius had come? I saw his trunk, broom and Freddie in your room, James. Is that how I get to know that your best mate has come home? When did he come and most importantly how did he come?" Mrs. Potter said in one breath. James' mother, Charlotte Potter was a beautiful young woman with hazel eyes, just like James'. She had long red hair which she had tied in a ponytail.

"Mum! Calm down. Sirius came last night at 11. You guys were asleep and Sirius said not to wake you up. He slept in my room yesterday and I was sleeping in the guestroom. And this morning, Sirius was not in bed. So, I went to find him. We sat on the hill for some time and now, here we are." James explained.

"You didn't answer the last question, James." Mrs. Potter said.  
"I flew on the broom." Sirius said.  
"You flew? Are you out of your mind, Sirius Black? It must have taken you 2 or 3 hours to come here on a broom. And why did you fly? You could have easily asked James or Harold to pick you up. Or better yet, you could have waited until morning!"  
"I left my house, Mrs. P. I couldn't wait until morning to leave my house, could I? And I haven't passed my Apparition test yet so I had to fly." Sirius said.  
"You left your house?" Mrs. Potter asked.  
"I think I just said that." Sirius said. Mrs. Potter nodded and hugged Sirius once again with tears in her eyes.  
"This is your home now, Sirius. And we are your family." Mrs. Potter said. Sirius smiled.

"Charlotte? Are the boys there?" Harold Potter called out from inside the house.  
"Yes! They had gone to the hill." Mrs. Potter replied. All the 3 went inside the house. Mr. Potter looked at the boys and sighed with relief. "You should have told us before leaving. You scared us!"  
"Sorry Dad!" James said.

Mr. Potter smiled. Sirius was still sad, James could see it. But he knew, if the he and Sirius stuck together through everything, then everything would be back to normal and James was sure that it would go back to normal because they swore on their blood that they would never leave each other's side. They are brothers forever…

**Author's Note – How was it? Did you like it? Please leave reviews! Love you…**


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